Blood, toil, tears, and sweat are what it has taken Scotland to come to this point where they are threatening the defending champions. They face Australia in their last game of the group stage. Clashing with the pitiless Australia and with the ICC ensuring no behind-the-closed-door conspiracy to oust England should take place, Scotland are left with only two choices. One lies in their control but just as much out of control and it is beating Australia even by a single run (or, with apologies to New Zealand fans, boundary counts). The other is hoping for the grey clouds (which currently are nowhere near St. Lucia) to take the reins in their hands. In other words, a victory or a washout would both be embraced by the Scots with open arms.
Australia has nothing at stake (at least if they don’t hand the ball to David Warner to bowl the first over). They are through to the Super 8s and have a pretty good-looking team with a strong bench. After what was a shambolic World Cup campaign at home in 2022, the team has been on an upward spiral in all formats. As a captain, this was Mitchell Marsh’s first mega event and should he be able to win it, Australia will become the first team to hold all major trophies simultaneously – ODI World Cup, Test Mace, the Urn, and (assuming they win), the T20 World Cup. Pretty annoying if you ask other teams but not undeserving.
Team Overview:
Scotland has a stacked batting lineup. Especially the top order is full of explosive batters. This is evident from the fact that no team during this World Cup has a better batting average among its top order than Scotland. Moreover, only England and Australia’s top order has struck at a higher rate. Even in the case of a rain-truncated game, Scotland is all set with their fiery batters. The bowlers would not betray as well, though they did not get a chance to prove this against a full member yet.
Australia are likely to rest a few of their players, given they are already through to the next stage and some of them have played consistently in the IPL for three months as well. Nathan Ellis might replace one of the big guys in a bid to again prove how he is well-suited to carry the legacy. Nevertheless, even with half their usual team on the bench Australia can muster up a good team and could prove to be dangerous for Scotland.
Head-to-Head Matches:
Like their archrivals-England-Australia too have never played against Scotland in the shortest format of the game.
Weather and Pitch Report:
The weather forecast says that weather will remain clear with a passing shower expected which would not be strong enough to send the players in. This will be the first game of this tournament to be played in St. Lucia. The Darren Sammy Stadium has a deck with true bounce that would help both batters and bowlers. Fast bowlers can expect to get help from the strip, especially with the seam movement. A high-scoring game can be expected.
Prediction:
Scotland have been in some form of late and very deservingly the talks of their cricketing display have engulfed the whole cricket world. On the other hand, Australia is a team that has looked the most stable in this edition of the World Cup. Keeping track record of the Aussies in mind, one can expect them to win this game convincingly.
Where to Watch:
- India – Star Sports
- Pakistan – PTV Sports, Ten Sports, Myco (Live streaming) and Tamasha app (Live streaming)
- USA and Canada – Willow TV
- England – Sky Sports Network
- Caribbean – ESPN Caribbean
- New Zealand & Australia – Sky Sports NZ, Prime Video
- Other regions – SuperSport, Sirasa, CricLife, STARZPLAY
